Jeff Probst: There Will Never Be An All-Winners Survivor

Survivor was one of the first reality TV shows to become popular. Believe it or not, it’s still running. The venerable old institution is currently on its 38th season.

Jeff Probst was interviewed by Us Weekly recently, and the subject of a possible all-winners season came up. Thirty-eight seasons in, it seems like there should be more than enough contestants to choose from to make a cast of twenty.

“We can’t do all winners. As a producer, I would never suggest it. I would say it’s not a good idea,” Probst said, dashing those hopes with some finality.

Variety

“We have 10 great winners that you’d want to see play again. We don’t have 20. We don’t have 18. Some of the winners don’t want to play again. Some of the greats are like, ‘No, we’re done.'”

Despite how long the show’s gone, or maybe because of it, there is a die-hard core of fans who really want to see the all-winners season. Not everyone agrees with Probst. Apparently, studio executives are clamoring for it as well.

“CBS wants to do it. They’re pitching me all the time. And I’m going, ‘I’ll sit down with you and show you the list!’ We don’t have it. And if I sat down and we wasted our time and I walked you through all our winners, you would say, ‘Oh, you’re right. You don’t have a season.’ We have a tribe of winners, that’s it.” Which is an idea that the host is willing to entertain. He says that there could be a season in which a tribe of past winners competes against a tribe of newbies, which would be entertaining.

When Survivor debuted, it changed American television. The show was originally an adaptation of the premise of a Swedish series called Expedition Robinson. Survivor hit the air in 2000. Jeff Probst has been the host from the show’s inception.

The show established the basic reality TV formula that we now take for granted. Contestants have to compete for rewards and immunity, while cast members are slowly whittled away until only one remains. That “Sole Survivor” wins a million dollars.

An all-winners season may not be a million-dollar idea. But who knows, maybe it’ll be possible after another forty seasons.